Republican senators: Allow West Bank goods to be labeled 'Made in Israel'
"This decision would be yet another achievement by your administration that would support Israel and would push back against antisemitism and the BDS movement.”
By OMRI NAHMIASPSAGOT, PEAK 2016 / CASTEL, PETIT CASTEL 2017 / TABOR, MALKIYA 2015(photo credit: Courtesy)
WASHINGTON – Four Senate Republicans sent a letter to US President Donald Trump on Monday, urging him to change US customs policy and guidelines “to allow Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria to be labeled ‘Made in Israel.’”AXIOS first reported the story, and a copy of the letter was obtained by The Jerusalem Post.“Unfortunately, the United Nations and some prominent members of the Democratic Party are working to oppose Israel and to support the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate and damage Israel economically,” the letter reads. It was signed by senators Marco Rubio (Florida), Tom Cotton (Arkansas), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Kelly Loeffler (Georgia).The country-of-origin labeling guidelines, which were introduced by the Clinton administration in 1995, changed long-standing US policy “to require ‘Made in West Bank' labels to be put on Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria, even though the US government treats these products as ‘articles of Israel’ for trade purposes,” the letter reads.The senators turned to Trump while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is visiting Israel through Friday. He is expected to visit the Psagot Winery in Samaria’s Sha’ar Binyamin Industrial Park, making him the first secretary of state to visit an Israeli-owned entity in the West Bank. The Psagot Winery has been in the forefront of the battle against product labeling.While US authorities do not enforce this labeling policy, the senators wrote, they are “concerned that a future administration could choose to enforce these rules and thereby differentiate Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria, making them prime targets for BDS boycotts.”“Your administration should continue its string of pro-Israel policy changes by undoing these misguided Clinton-era guidelines, thereby allowing Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria to be labeled as ‘Made in Israel,’” the letter reads. “This decision would be yet another achievement by your administration that would support Israel and would push back against antisemitism and the BDS movement.”
